"A GREAT WEEKEND"

Kathy & I went to Rural Hall, NC this past weekend to visit my cousin Juanita and her husband Azariah, and on a scale from 1 to 10 we had a number 11 good time. Azariah & I had a 9:38 tee time at Pilot Knob Park Country Club Saturday morning, and needless to say the weather was questionable due to Hanna making an appearance in NC that morning. When we teed off it was very cloudy and looked as if it would start raining at anytime, but by the end of the second hole the sun had broken through and we had a beautiful day to play. Pilot Knob Park County Club is a beautiful golf course with views of Pilot Mountain from several of the holes. It had been over a year since I had played golf and my game has not changed - it is still not good. However, I did make a birdie on a par 4 by chipping in from approximately 60 yards off the green - now that was exciting!!!. Azariah "Nicklaus" is 81 years young and still plays golf several times a week, and he walks the course when he plays. In the following video he demonstrates how you are suppose to swing the club in order to obtain maximum distance out of the little white ball!

Later that day we got to tour the Reynolda House which was built by Richard J. Reynolds (founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) and his wife Katharine in 1917. This house is awesome! We also drove through the grounds of the Graylyn Conference Center which is owned by Wake Forest University, but was built and completed in 1932 by Bowman Gray Sr (Chairman of the BOD of R J Reynolds). The house at the Graylyn has 46,000 sq.ft. with 60 rooms. Tobacco money sure did build a couple of fine houses which are pictured below.

Saturday night Azariah & Juanita fed us a great steak dinner and we got to visit with my other cousin Dot and her husband Hassell along with with Azariah & Juanita's son Mike, wife Linda and their daughter Ashley.

Sunday morning we went with Azariah & Juanita to their church which is of the Moravian Faith. In trying to come up with adequate words to describe their church the following words seem to best fit the experience: Bright, Light, Friendly and Spiritually fulfilling. After Church Hassell & Dot took us all out to eat then we headed back to Lexington and reality. The memories of this trip will be etched in our minds as one of the best weekend trips we have ever had.